The “All for Peace” radio station in Israel has been shut down by the nation’s Communications Ministry following claims that they were violating the law by illegally criticizing the far-right coalition government.
The Communications Ministry said the Hebrew-language broadcasts were illegal because they were “economically damaging” to other local radio stations, and said that since they were operating out of the West Bank they could not legally broadcast into Israel without special permission.
But MP Danny Danon, a top member of the ruling Likud Party, has boasted that he was responsible the shutdown, having pressed the Attorney General to shutter the station months ago before writing a letter demanding the Communications Ministry move against him.
“A radical leftist station that becomes an instrument of incitement must not be allowed to broadcast to the public,” Danon insisted, saying that one of the employees of the station once expressed support for Palestinian statehood in an on-air discussion.
The shutdown is just part of what a number of journalists in Israel are calling a broad effort to harm freedom of the press in the nation. Hundreds of journalists held a conference in Tel Aviv to discuss the ramifications of a newly proposed libel law that would allow MPs to sue journalists for publishing factual but damaging reports.
Free markets free speech and a democratic state, Israel has none but, don't tell americans that…. oh wait, you don't… ok keep it up all you journalist.. wink wink
"The only democracy….,blah, blah, blah,….baloney…."
Likud attitude sounds all to familiar.
The Press in the Third Reich http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=…
“Law and order” … is a phrase that has appeal for most citizens, who, unless they themselves have a powerful grievance against authority, are afraid of disorder. In the 1960s, a student at Harvard Law School addressed parents and alumni with these words:
The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might. And the republic is in danger. Yes! danger from within and without. We need law and order! Without law and order our nation cannot survive.
There was prolonged applause. When the applause died down, the student quietly told his listeners: “These words were spoken in 1932 by Adolf Hitler.”
But, but…. but, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.
We are a democracy. Trust us. We are honorable people who employ the worse people and give them jobs as illegal settlers. We provide a good system of reporting the news already so why would you not expect us to close down one that we do not like. We are after all a democracy who treats everyone equal and respect all as God's children. We came to the desert and produced a garden for only a few trillion USA taxpayers dollars. We are the people God chose as his special people and the fact that God has been AWOL from Jewish life for 6,000 years does not mean that he has given up on us. We are great and you can read how great in our news organization.
Can't allow the facts to get in the way of the social manipulation of the people. If they hear the other side of the arguments then, god forbid, they might actually make up their own minds – and it might not go the way of the Archons. After all, the governments "facts" are all so believable.
Generally speaking, right-wingers in all countries (including Israel) believe in the concept of "free speech" only so long as the speaker says things they agree with. In the US, right-wingers despise free speech, and would like nothing better than having the 1st Amendment stricked from the Bill of Rights.
What about all those weird over-emotional leftists who want to send people to jail for violating ' hate speech ' laws, do they not count? Take off your blinkers, partisan.
And so it goes. As the year 2011 comes to an end, the World Police State starts to clamp down on the sheep everywhere. Stay tuned, folks, there's more so much more to come.
And so Israel continues it's speedy slide into full spectrum facism.
In my opinion, it has been so since 1948 – if not, potentially, since Zionism became an idea in Theodore Hezl's head…